Buffing wheel spiral sewingmachine index unit



July 5, 1949.

R. A. LE BEAU 2,475,551 BUFFING WHEEL SPIRAL SEWING MACHINE INDEX UNIT Filed March 22, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

Elhnclfllebeau 2,475,551 7 BUFFING WHEEL SPIRAL SEWING MACHINE INDEX UNIT Filed March 22, 1948 R. A. LE BEAU July 5, 1949.

2 Sheets-Shet' 2 land INVEN TOR. JF5 LeB'qLL BY a? Patented July 5, 1949 BUFFING WHEEL SPIRAL SEWING- MACHIINE INDEX UNIT Roland A. Le Beau, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Lagraly Engineering Co. Inc., Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 22, 1948, Serial No. 16,364

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for sewing spirals or circles in cloth bufling wheels to secure the cloth plies together; and the principa1 object of the invention resides in the provision of a simple and eiTective device for moving a rotating bufiing wheel toward a sewing needle whenever it is desired to sew a succeeding spiral or circle, the spirals or circles starting either near the center of the buiiing wheel or at the edge thereof; said device including means controlling the distance between the spirals and this means being adjustable so as to provide for different spiral spacing, such as an eighth of an inch, three-sixteenths of an inch, one-fourth of an inch, etc., or any spacing de sired.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a rack which is adapted to be bolted in fixed position to the platen of the sewing machine, said rack having in mesh therewith a pinion gear adapted to be turned by a handle, so that the pinion gear moves along the rack and as it moves carries with it a housing supporting the handle and gear and an index plate, said housing also supporting a work holder arm extending outwardly therefrom and provided with a pin on which the buffing wheel is mounted at its center so that as the pinion gear rotates and moves the housing along the rack, the Work holding arm will move the bufling wheel in or out relative to l the sewing needle, whereby spirals can be sewn in the bufiing wheel as desired.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of the device as above stated wherein the index plate is provided with a plurality of series of circularly located spaced holes, each series having a differentspacing; in combination with a pivoted handle having a dog thereon for entry into any one of said holes, said dog being adjustable along the handle for cooperation with any one of said series so that as the handle is turned from one hole to the next it indexes the work holder arm as above stated, by turning the pinion gear a predetermined amount, depending on the space between holes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a device according to the invention and showing the same in operative relation with a sewing needle shown in section; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in edge elevation looking in the direction of arrow 2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawings, there is indicated generally by the character ID a sewing machine bed or platen on which the present invention is mounted. The sewing machine needle is indicated at [2 and, of course, it is understood that this needle reciprocates to perform the sewing function but does not otherwise move. In cooperation with the sewing machine needle l2 there is a dog or foot I4 in the platen I0 and which is adapted to move the buffing wheel IS in a circle to sew spirals to secure the plies of the buffing wheel together, as will be made apparent hereinafter.

The device of the present invention itself comprises a rack l8 secured as by screws to the sewin machine platen or any fixed part thereof as Ii in Fig. 2. This rack is provided with teeth 22 and relatively movable thereon is a housing 24, this housing being provided with a gib 26 adjusted by screws 28 so as to correctly position the rack in operative engagement with a pinion gear 30 mounted on a shaft 32 journaled in the housing 24 and extending outwardly thereof in a flat 34 to pivotably receive a yoke 36 forming the end of an index arm 38, the latter being swingable 90 only on a pin 40, this pin being arranged to be stopped in alinem'ent with the shaft 32 for a purpose to be described, see Fig. 3 in dotted lines.

An index plate 42 is secured to the housin 24 by a check nut 44 and this plate is provided with a plurality of circular series of holes 45, 46, 47, 48. The spacing of holes 45 is made so as to provide a certain distance of movement of the arm 38 between holes so as to turn the pinion gear this amount; the distance between holes 46 is greater and the distance between holes 4'! and 48 is still greater so as to provide correspondingly greater rotation of the pinion gear and correspondingly greater movement at each step of the housing along the rack l8.

The index arm 38 is provided with a handle 49 and a dog 50 which is slidable therealon and secured by a set screw 52, so that the operation is merely to raise the knob enough about pin 40 to disengage the dog from the hole it is in and move it to the next hole, thereby shifting the housing 24 a certain pre-determined amount.

The housing also carries in fixed relation thereto a work holder arm 54 which extends along the sewin machine platen and at its free end terminates in a work holder pin 56. This work holder pin receives buffing wheel It by the center 55' hole thereof so that the bufling wheel may be 3 rotated about this center pin by the feeding dog 14.

In the operation of the device, the bufling wheel to be sewed is disposed upon th pin 56 and the index arm is then rotated with its dog out of engagement with the index plate, until a point is reached relative to the needle I2 where the first spiral is to be sewn. The dog 50 is then dropped in the hole desired and the sewing machine is started, whereupon it will sew a. circle as, for instance, at 58. When the circle has been completed the knob 49 is raised sufficiently to disengage the dog 50 and the index arm 38 is then swung to the next hole, whether it be hole 45, 46, 41, or 48 resulting in an inward motion of the buffing wheel I 6 relative to the needle I2, makin a line of stitching as at 60. The next circle is then made as at 62 and this operation is continued until the buffing wheel is completed.

At the completion of the wheel, the arm 33 is raised to the dotted line position of Fig. 13 and the housing 24 or plate 42 is grasped and moved to the right in Fig. 1, removing the buffing wheel from location of needle l2, so that the wheel can be removed from pin 56 and a new wheel placed for the next operation.

In order to zeroize the work arm 54, the nut 44 is backed off, and plate 42 is turned until some desired hole in the plate is in position to give a correct starting or stopping point. Then the nut i tightened and the operation proceeds as before.

It will be seen that this invention provides a simple and yet effective device for quickly and easily sewing the spirals in the cloth buffing wheels. I

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claimis:

1. Indexing device comprising arack adapted to be secured in fixed position, a wheel in. mesh therewith, means to turn the wheel, a housing mounting the wheel and traveled thereby along the rack, a work holding arm on the housin and extending outwardly away therefrom, an index plate on the housing having a plurality of circular series of spaced holes concentrically arranged about the axis of the wheel, and a dog on said means for selective entry into any one of said holes.

2. The indexing device of claim -1 wherein said means comprises a pivoted arm and the dog is mounted for adjustment therealong.

3. Indexing device comprisin a rack adapted to be secured in fixed position, a wheel in mesh therewith, means to turn the wheel, a housing mounting the wheel and traveled thereby along the rack, a work holding arm on the housing and 4 extending outwardly away therefrom, an index plate on the housing having a plurality of circular series of spaced holes concentrically arranged about the axis of the wheel, and a dog on said means for selective entry into any one of said holes, the holes of each circular series being evenly spaced, and each series'having a different spacing from every other series.

4. Indexing device comprising a rack, a housing mounted on the rack, a pinion journaled in the housing and in mesh with the rack, a plate fixed to the housing concentrically with the pinion axis, said plate having a plurality of spaced series of circular concentrically arranged spaced holes, each series having a different spacing, an arm for rotating the pinion, a dog slidably arranged on the arm for entry into any selected hole as the arm turns to rotate the pinion, means to clamp the dog to the arm, and a work holding arm fixed to the housing, extending therefrom, and adapted to be moved relative to the rack with each step of rotation of the pinion.

5. The indexing device of claim 4 wherein the housing carries a shaft, the pinion being on the shaft, and the first named arm being pivoted on the shaft for movement from parallel to the plate to align with the shaft and pinion axis.

6. Indexing device comprisin a rack, a housing mounted on the rack, a pinion journaled in the housing and in mesh with the rack, a plate fixed to the housing concentrically with the pinion axis, said plate having a plurality of spaced series of circular concentrically arranged spaced holes, each series having a different spacing, an arm for rotating the pinion, a dog slidably arranged on the arm for entry into any selected hole as the arm turns to rotate the pinion, means to clamp the dog to the arm, and a work holding arm fixed to the housing, extending therefrom, and adapted to be moved relative to the rack with each step of rotation of the pinion, in combination with a sewing machine, the rack bein fixed to the ma chine platen and the work holding arm being movable to and from the machine needle.

7. Index device comprising a rack, a housing mounted to slide thereon, a shaft, a pinion on the shaft, the latter being journaled in the housing, a plate concentric with the shaft, an arm to rotate the shaft and pinion, a, dog on the arm, said plate having a plurality of series of spaced concentrically arranged holes for selective reception of the dog, a work holder arm on the housing, and means to clamp the plate in any rotative position desired about the shaft.

ROLAND A. LE BEAU.

No references cited. 

